The DIVERSE (Dual International Volunteering Exchange & Research in Sports Education) project aims to develop better sports participation and volunteering opportunities in two areas; Islington in north London, England and Varazdin County in Croatia, through a series of Erasmus Plus Key Action 1 Youth and Youth Worker Exchanges. We will be targeting gender inequalities in sport and looking at ways to overcome barriers to participation. Physical activity when delivered in a positive and supportive environment, can address the issues of social inclusion and inequality of opportunity and provide lifelong health & wellbeing. We will explore the relationships between sport, society, health and opportunity through a series of learning workshops and exchanges of young people and workers actively involved in the field of youth and sports in London, UK and Varazdin, Croatia. The young people aged 14-28 participating in DIVERSE will mainly be from socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds who are underrepresented in grassroots sports provision and participation in youth programmes. These two groups come from very different social and cultural environments but are currently very unaware of this difference, as the travel opportunities for most will be limited and this project will broaden their view of what it means to be a citizen of the EU. We will be supporting the development of communication skills, social aptitude and leadership skills within the young people on the program. They will be given training in delivering sports activities for younger people and then they will be given opportunities to put all these skills into practice by delivering activities in both countries. After the Youth Exchange, the young people will have the tools, confidence and competencies to go on and influence their own communities by volunteering and active citizenship. This will increase their own self-worth and will also increase the likelihood of they themselves staying physically active and will also increase the opportunities for sports participation for others in the areas where they live. The more youth-led sporting opportunities we have the more likely it is that their peers will engage, creating a lasting legacy of sports participation which will ultimately effect the individual (improved health, wellbeing, skills, employability) and society as a whole. There will also be a considerable exchange of information, processes and experience between youth workers, coaches, teachers and development professionals. Topics that will be shared include the multi-agency delivery of community projects, and how this can improve participation and connect school and club, and the evolution in teaching and coaching in developing people-centred learning. We will also be creating new contacts and sources for new information relevant to the various professional spheres involved across the two countries. This increased level of knowledge and understanding will see longer term development of opportunities within each country and build strong relationships between two EU counties; an older member (UK) and an emerging country (Croatia).